1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to elongated booms employed in spraying agricultural crops and more specifically, to such booms that are formed of a center boom section and opposite end or wing sections connected to the center section by break away joints that normally maintain the boom sections colinear but permit the wing sections to be pivoted with respect to the center section for reducing the width of the boom during non-operational conditions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Standard equipment presently employed for spraying chemical herbicides, pesticides or the like on agricultural crops includes a trailer for carrying a chemical storage tank and an elongated spray boom extended transversely adjacent to the rear of the trailer. The spray boom has a plurality of spaced apart spray nozzles mounted thereon, and a pump and associate spray lines transfer the chemical from the storage tank to the spray nozzles.
To reduce the amount of time involved in spraying a field, long spray booms are being used that extend outwardly in cantilever fashion from opposite sides of the trailer on which they are mounted, and are formed of a center boom section and opposite end or wing sections pivotable with respect to the center section from a straight boom condition to a folded condition for reducing the length of the boom when it is in a non-operating condition.
Various types of pivotal connections between the end boom sections and the center section are known in the art to provide a coupling between the boom sections that will maintain the sections in a colinear alignment during normal operating conditions but will permit the boom to pivot to a folded condition if one of the end sections encounters an obstacle or it is desired to reduce the length of the boom to transport the spraying assembly from one location to another. The present invention provides a break away joint that achieves all of the above desired objectives and does so with a relatively simplistic construction and improved mode of operation.